What are the coolest in-game worlds you’ve ever seen?

I really love the look of MYST but the game itself is very dull. It's probably safe to say that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will have some of the coolest looking in-game environments ever. Same with Far Cry, DOOM 3 and HL2. I’ve been playing through TRON 2.0 as fast as I can because I can’t wait to see the next level. The levels are brilliant!! For anyone who hasn’t played it, I highly recommend the gold demo (http://www.tron20.net). Morrowind, Mafia, and Vice City also all have remarkable in-game worlds for sheer size and things to explore. Max Payne 2 has a lot of interactivity with environmental objects which lends realism to the experience. Call Of Duty takes the cake for most incredible atmospheres and environments for a WWII shooter. What do you think makes a gaming environment great and which games do you think set the standard?

I checked out Schizm 2 and it looks beautiful. But in looking at it, I also happened across an ad for a game by LucasArts called Armed and Dangerous which looks wonderful, so your link led me to two new discoveries. Thanks!

BTW, I like the reference to the movie "Sleeper" in your sig... I rarely encounter anyone who would know that movie.

Do you have a lot of PC games? Have you played Max Payne 2, Call Of Duty, TRON 2.0 or Mafia?

I love the game Black Hawk Down, and think the worlds are pretty cool, but the game has the best looking water I've ever seen anywhere.
Just played DeusEx: Invisiable War, and this has the WORST enviroments i've ever seen.

Originally posted by nycgamer
I checked out Schizm 2 and it looks beautiful.

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You should see it moving. Its full 3D and utterly amazing. Almost like art. URU - Ages Beyond Myst is also pretty good.

Originally posted by nycgamer
Do you have a lot of PC games? Have you played Max Payne 2, Call Of Duty, TRON 2.0 or Mafia?

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I do have quite a few games, but sadly I don't seem to get much time to play them. I've got all the ones you mention, and I'll hopefully get around to giving them a go soon. I only buy games that get excellent reviews and it doesn't bother me much whether I manage to finish them or not. Maybe I can play them for nostalgic reasons when I retire. I'll bet many of these will become collectors items at some point in the future.

For me Silent Hill 3, damn this game really good at creating disturbing environment and very scary!
And The LOngest Journey, this game really hit me hard at that time! Beautiful graphic and clever puzzle, great game.

Originally posted by Nic
I've got all the ones you mention, and I'll hopefully get around to giving them a go soon.

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WHA~?? You have TRON 2.0, Mafia, Call of Duty and Max Payne 2, but you HAVEN'T PLAYED ANY OF THEM?? I think I would have gone completely insane by now... seeing them in their shiny boxes sitting on my computer shelf... calling to me to play them... and me passing them by, wondering what fantastic virtual worlds wait within... reading online about what great games they are and all the while they're right there within my grasp...

Originally posted by nycgamer
WHA~?? You have TRON 2.0, Mafia, Call of Duty and Max Payne 2, but you HAVEN'T PLAYED ANY OF THEM?? I think I would have gone completely insane by now... seeing them in their shiny boxes sitting on my computer shelf... calling to me to play them... and me passing them by, wondering what fantastic virtual worlds wait within... reading online about what great games they are and all the while they're right there within my grasp...

can ne one say Half-life? its old but it will always be a classic
FF11 online has very nice enviorments for a MMoRPg its almost worth it watching the sun rise on the beach in-game the sounds arent 1/2 bad either

I hear that, Half life is and always will be a classic. I loved it. And will be purchasing HL2 to show my support to valve for their excellent work.
I beat Deus Ex, and want to play Deus Ex 2, im a little dissheartend to hear that its environment got a bad mark. but Ill probably still check it out.
I think my all time favorite game, the game that brought me the most fun for the longest amount of time was counter-strike. Im an old school CS player, but not very good
I love RPGs and as far as they go my favs are FF7, chrono trigger, Lunar Silver star story complete for the PSX (excellent!!!)

uhh thats all off the top of my head, im sure Ill think of more later.

As far as environments go, I'd have to give Gothic props for creating some truly alive locations. Some visually atmospheric games that deserve honorable mention would be Silent Hill 1, System Shock 2 and Clive Barker's Undying. In terms of audio atmosphere, Planescape : Torment fully immersed me in another world.

if you like games to explore on the basis of sheer size, check out true crime streets of la, which contains 240 square miles of genuine los angeles mapping, which is reasonably convincing i'm told...quite a few landmarks as well... similar to this is the getaway, which contained 50 or so square miles of genuine london streets, much of which is true to life, or so i'm told... i used to be impressed with the 3d gta games, until i played true crime, and particularly mafia, which someone already mentioned, which was an absolutely brilliant game, great atmosphere, sound, music, fun gameplay, brilliant story, realistic looking world, everyone should have a look at mafia if they haven't already..

There are a lot of games with well done worlds but not many really stand out. I mean games like Call of Duty depict a realistic world & even though it's well done, it doesn't realyl take a lot of imagination. I'm much more of a fan of sci-fi worlds in that aspect.

Since I picked up "Call of Duty" have not touched my XBOX, even after getting Rainbow six.

I sometimes find myself looking around, while eating dinner with my wife, as she attemps in vain to have a conversation. Thinking to myself "That guys about 700yrds or so, yeah, I could hit him from here"